There is described and claimed in applicant's copending U.S. Ser. No. 383,214, filed May 28, 1982, and now U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,694, granted Aug. 28, 1984 apparatus for clearing mines which overcomes the difficulties and disadvantages of conventional prior art mine clearing techniques and apparatus and which comprises a frame mountable onto a vehicle for selectable positioning in a raised or lowered orientation; apparatus for raising and shunting aside mines mounted onto the frame; and apparatus for selectably retaining the frame in a raised orientation and comprising control apparatus operable from inside the vehicle for releasing the frame from the raised orientaiton and allowing it to assume the lowered orientation.
There is also described and claimed in applicant's copending U.S. Ser. No. 383,213, filed May 28, 1982 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,491,053 apparatus for clearing mines comprising a frame mountable onto a vehicle for selectable positioning in a raised or lowered orientation; plow apparatus for raising and shunting aside mines mounted onto the frame; and apparatus for automatically raising the plow from its lowered orientation to its raised orientation in response to backwards motion of the vehicle and including mounting apparatus rotatably mounted onto the vehicle, spring supporting apparatus mounted onto the mounting apparatus and attached to the plow apparatus; and tooth apparatus fixed onto the mounting apparatus and arranged for selectable engagement with the vehicle tread, the spring supporting apparatus being operative when the plow is in its lowered orientation to urge the tooth apparatus into driven engagement with the vehicle tread whereby during backwards movement of the vehicle, the mounting apparatus rotates in a first direction, thereby extending the length of the spring supporting apparatus, and increasing the spring force thereof until a spring force is reached at a first position of the mounting apparatus sufficient to raise the plow to its raised orientation. Continued rotation of the mounting apparatus raises the plow until it engages a retaining hook, and is held stationary.
In addition, there is described and claimed in applicant's co-pending U.S. Ser. No. 496,164, filed May 19, 1983 mine clearing apparatus for attachment to a vehicle and comprising a frame mountable onto a vehicle for selectable positioning in a raised or lowered orientation; apparatus mounted onto the frame for raising and shunting aside mines including first and second plow sections disposed one above another in hinged engagement, the second plow section being associated with a plurality of plow teeth which, in operation, extend below the ground surface, the first and second plow sections between operative to lie in generally the same plane during operation and in folded engagement when the frame is in its raised orientation, the raising and shunting side apparatus being mounted on the frame in front of the ground engaging members on each side of the vehicle and being angularly oriented to have a forward edge adjacent the interior of the vehicle and a rearward edge adjacent the side edge of the vehicle, each of the forward edges being provided with a chain attached to the first and second plow sections such as to be tensioned when the first and second plow sections are in their operating orientations to thereby define a barrier against mines passing from adjacent the forward edge to the relatively unprotected area at the interior of the vehicle.